Florida Hosts Senior Night on Friday
Florida Hosts Senior Night on Friday
No. 2 Florida (7-1, 5-1 SEC) v. No. 36 West Virginia (6-7, 0-2 Big 12)
Friday March 7th, 2014 at 7pm in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Last Friday the Gators suffered their first loss of the season to No. 4 Alabama, 197.675-197.4. Florida dropped Mackenzie Caquatto’s low score of 9.675 on the floor exercise. A couple of uncharacteristically low scores on beam followed from Rachel Spicer (9.275), and Bridget Sloan (9.70) and allowed the Tide to push past for the win.
Sloan won her seventh all-around title of the season. Senior Caquatto and Freshman Claire Boyce shared the beam title with an impressive 9.925. This was Boyce’s first collegiate event win and her first SEC freshman of the week title.
This friday the Gators will host West Virginia at thier last home meet of the season. The Gators are very capable of beating the Mountaineers whose season-best is only 196.175. As a team West Virginia does not rank in the top 20 for any apparatus or all-around. However, Jaida Lawrence has scored a high of 9.925 on vault, Alexa Goldberg has a high of 9.925 on bars, and Beth Deal has scored a high of 9.950 on balance beam.
Another one to watch for is West Virginia’s key all-arounder, Hope Sloanhoffer. Sloanhoffer has scored a high of 9.9 on floor, and is ranked 29th in the all-around with a high of 39.35.
Although this should be a rather easy win for the Gators, it will still be a night guaranteed to bring tears. The 2014 senior class including Mackenzie Caquatto, Alaina Johnson, and Lauren Rose, will be honored after the competition in front of their last home crowd.
The 2014 senior class has won the schools first NCAA Championship, won two SEC titles (2012 and 2013), are 28-0 at home, and performed 253 routines with 44% of those with a score of 9.9 or higher. To top it off Mackenzie Caquatto holds a spot on the famous 10.0 wall in the Florida Gymnastics Studio for her 10.0 on bars.
This year’s senior class will be sorely missed, but their collegiate careers aren’t over just yet, as the Gators must fight for the SEC and NCAA titles.
Watch Macko Caquatto talk about the emotions of her senior year before the start of season:
Watch Macko Caquatto talk about the emotions of her senior year before the start of season:
Macko's younger sister, Bridgey Caquatto, who is currently a sophomore on the team shared this adorable family photo today: